2022 NBA Finals: Is It Time For Steve Kerr To Change Warriors' Rotations?

The Golden State Warriors’ lack of consistency on both ends of the court through the first three games of the 2022 NBA Finals has raised some questions about whether or not head coach Steve Kerr and his coaching staff will look to adjust their rotations and lineups ahead of Game 4 on Friday.

Brett Siegel | Jun 9, 2022

2022 NBA Finals: Is It Time For Steve Kerr To Change Warriors' Rotations? /

Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson combined to score 56 points on 11-24 shooting from three-point range and Andrew Wiggins added 18 points of his own in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night.

However, the Warriors’ lack of awareness defensively and the Boston Celtics’ ability to outmuscle them on the interior led to a 116-100 victory in favor of Boston, who now own a 2-1 lead in this series.

Getting consistent scoring production from Klay Thompson was a concern coming out of Game 2 for the Warriors and while it was a great sign to see him get going, it was at the cost of Golden State’s defense.

All night long, the Celtics attacked the interior on both ends of the floor, outscoring the Warriors 52-26 in the paint and outrebounding them 47-31, 15-6 on the offensive glass.

Throughout these playoffs, the Warriors have been a strong rebounding team, even though they are not the biggest team, but the Celtics have seemed to figure things out in terms of how to use their strength and size advantage against Golden State.

Not having a ton of size and athleticism to match up against Boston, the Warriors may have to switch things up in terms of who is on the floor when and head coach Steve Kerr acknowledged this on Thursday.

“I think that's always what you kind of weigh as a coaching staff. You balance any type of adjustment or lineup change or anything like that, and you have to weigh it according to where you feel you are in the series,” Kerr said in response to being asked about potential changes to be made. “Everything factors in, and there's no clear path to a right or wrong answer.

"It's just every year is unique and circumstantial. That's what today and tomorrow will be about for our staff. You know, what adjustments we feel like we need to make.”

The Warriors’ starting-unit of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney is not necessarily in question, but their bench production has been limited in this series and finding the right combination of players to put on the court versus Boston has caused the Warriors’ coaching staff to begin questioning their approach, especially before Game 4 on Friday.

Jordan Poole, the Warriors’ best bench weapon, has been held relatively in check throughout this series. The third-year breakout guard is only averaging 12.0 points through three games and his defensive inefficiencies has led him to having a -18 plus-minus rating.

Otto Porter Jr. is a veteran that has supplied this team with big minutes offensively off-the-bench and while he does not look 100% right now due to a lingering foot issue, he is shooting 7-9 from three-point range in this series and has a +10 plus-minus rating so far.

Getting Porter some more minutes could be something the Warriors consider, but the overall question being asked right now is:

“Should the Warriors go deep into their bench and utilize Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody?”

Both rookies have played here-and-there in the postseason and while many would be quick to shoot down the idea of putting two teenagers on the floor in the NBA Finals while you are trailing, this may not be the worst idea for the Warriors given that both Kuminga and Moody are athletic talents that could match the intensity and ferocity of the Celtics at times.

Now, this is not to say that both guys should be seeing 20-plus minutes off-the-bench, but one or two rotations with Kuminga or Moody being utilized as athletic and lengthy defenders could wind up disrupting Boston’s plans on offensive, leading to one or two less made baskets.

Maybe this is not that huge of a deal, but in the grand scheme of things, one or two extra misses could turn an 8-0 or 9-0 Warriors’ run into a 12-0 or 13-0 Warriors run.

Who knows, maybe they could go on an even larger run offensively!

The point of the matter is that Golden State’s defense has been sluggish in the NBA Finals and after a disappointing effort in Game 3, it is very apparent that this team needs a “spark” and jolt of energy to hit them on that side of the floor, especially since Draymond Green cannot do everything for them on defense.

Jonathan Kuminga in particular has the length and speed to be able to match up with guys like Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Does Steve Kerr and his coaching staff trust him though in such an important situation?

“We have to factor in what’s happening on the floor, what we need,” Kerr said after Game 3. “Do we need floor spacing? Do we need better rebounding? And we were kind of plugging holes tonight. They did a good job. They earned the win. They put a lot of pressure on us, and (it) felt like we were kind of swimming upstream most of the night. So we weren’t able to find that two-way combination other than that stretch in the third when Steph really got hot. Couldn’t find the right combination to strike that balance.”

Maybe the answer is to stick with Gary Payton II, Jordan Poole and Otto Porter Jr. off-the-bench, but maybe it makes sense for the Warriors to turn to their two lottery picks from this past year.

At this point, all options are on the table for the Golden State Warriors and if both defense and energy continue to be a problem for them early on in Game 4, it would not be shocking to see Steve Kerr turn to either Jonathan Kuminga or Moses Moody to try and tighten up their defense.

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